Curriculum development

By Linda Fitzharris

Journal of Staff Development, Summer 1999 (Vol. 20, No. 3)

Much of the curriculum found in today’s schools is based on teachers’ past experience in schools, input from textbook manufacturers, discipline frameworks, standards, and information from peers (Glasgow, 1997).

Often a curriculum is only loosely joined together, with students far better acquainted with its scope and sequence than the educators who teach it.

With teachers facing growing pressure to teach more, while also being held to higher standards, this approach to curriculum is no longer acceptable. Teachers must be empowered to more effectively design their own curriculum, and to move from the position of curriculum conveyer to that of curriculum designer.

The first step in this process requires getting teachers to share their curriculum with other teachers in the school. During a schoolwide meeting, teachers from each grade level summarize their curriculum on chart paper for science, social studies, language arts, and mathematics. Special area teachers write their curriculum on chart paper as well, so their colleagues can understanding the development of skills and concepts across grade levels. To ensure the integrity of the curriculum, teachers are encouraged to return to their curriculum documents. Frequently, they discover parts of the curriculum they had forgotten or had given only cursory attention.

After all charts have been completed, grade level and special area teachers share their curriculum with the entire faculty, and describe some of the teaching lessons/units they use to teach that curriculum. Many veteran teachers comment that this step provides the first opportunity they’ve ever had to understand the entire curriculum in their school. This schoolwide sharing process invariably highlights repetitions in content and teaching activities.

During the sharing process, teachers take notes and discuss apparent gaps and repetitions. They also discuss grade-level responsibilities. Curricular terms and content that appear on several grade levels are defined. Clear definitions help teachers articulate grade-level expectations, and move teachers closer to being able to "guarantee" learning standards for their students.

Curriculum mapping is the next step in the process. Teachers use large pieces of chart paper with the school months on the top, and colored sticky notes – different colors for each core area. Teachers write the different goals, objectives, and topics of the curriculum on the notes and arrange them across the school year.

During this step, teachers re-examine the sequence and emphases of the curriculum. One 4th-grade teacher, for example, realized she was devoting five months of the school year to the Civil War, while World War II and Vietnam received only a couple of days each. When asked why, she replied that "the kids really love the Civil War." Then she acknowledged that she really liked it as well, and that "I have lots of material on it." When she looked, for the first time, at her whole year’s curriculum, she recognized the imbalance and cut her Civil War coverage back to a few weeks.

When all the curriculum areas have been mapped, the information can be placed on a preprinted file folder that lists all required subject areas on the side and the months across the top. The file folder provides a detailed look at all subject areas and provides clear articulation between special areas and classroom teachers. It’s also an excellent resource for new teachers or teachers who are changing grade levels.

As the curriculum takes shape, teachers are encouraged to look at the different disciplines for common ideas, complementary skills/strategies, or other links that might be used to create a meaningful integrated study. Sticky notes are arranged and rearranged as teachers look for logical connections between and among the different disciplines. In this way, a "curriculum web," which spells out the connections, can be created.

For example, a social studies teacher who wants to explore the relationships between humans and their environment could focus on human interactions between humans and oceans. A science teacher could complement this with curriculum that examines the physical properties of water, sand, and other parts of the ocean ecosystem. And a language arts teacher could use oceans as a basis for student writing and storytelling. This in turn leads to the development of a second web, which identfies activities for delivering the curriculum. It shows specific methods, techniques, and materials teachers will use.

It’s imperative that the teachers keep this curriculum webbing process focused on student interests and needs. Ask yourselves the kind of questions students are likely to ask: Why should I bother learning this? What difference does it make? (Glasgow).

Also, be careful not to "superglue" curriculum together for the sake of saying you have created a web. There is little to be gained, for students or teachers, by trying to force connections, such as having students count seashells to provide an ocean-related math activity!

During the webbing process, many more objectives/standards will be identified than will be used. The brainstorming provides a valuable source of ideas and may be revisited again and again to refine the curricular links.

As the school year unfolds and teachers deliver their curriculum to students, assessments should ensure that students participate in a range of activities, so they can demonstrate learning in a variety of formats. Teachers should continually discuss what students should know and be able to do, and must identify or create assessment instruments to evaluate student progress. These can include traditional tests, or alternatives such as student portfolios or performances.

• Many schools use the maps developed during the curriculum-writing process to prepare a parent handbook, which spells out the curriculum learned on each grade level.
• Some schools post the chart papers created by teachers in the hallways, to share the progress being made and to invite all students in the school to see the "big" picture.
• Others have used the maps to generate newsletters to the parents. Curriculum topics may be shared by the week, month, grading period, or year.
• Clearly designed maps provide a roadmap for the teachers, students, administrators, and parents and provide opportunities for effective communication.
• They also help teachers and administrators analyze how they are spending their instructional time, a critical step in the era of accountability.

Glasgow, N. (1997). New curriculum for new times: A guide to student-centered, problem-based learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Brasee, E.N. & Capelluti, J. (1995). Dissolving boundaries: Toward an integrative curriculum. Columbus, OH: National Middle School Association.

Jacobs, H.H. (1997). Mapping the big picture: Integrating curriculum and assessment K-12. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Martinello, M.L. & Cook, G.E. (1994). Interdisciplinary inquiry in teaching and learning. New York: Merrill.

Linda Fitzharris is an assistant professor at the University of Charleston. She can be reached at the University of Charleston, 9 College Way, Charleston, SC 29424, (843) 953-4900, fax (843) 953-5407, e-mail: fitzharrisl@cofc.edu